The present disclosure relates generally to algae cultivation systems and methods, and more particularly to open raceway algae cultivation systems and methods.
Algae cultivation has become widely recognized as a promising source of food, biofuel, chemicals, and nutraceuticals. Typical algae cultivation systems include open raceways for economical production. Short-term weather variations can cause very significant algae cultivation issues in these open raceway systems. For example, algae culture health can be significantly degraded by (i) dilution due to high rainfall events, (ii) overheating due to higher than expected temperatures combined with reduced evaporation from lower wind speeds or higher humidity, and (iii) over cooling due to lower than expected temperatures.
New and improved algae cultivation systems and methods are accordingly needed.